An unsustainable population boom!

Last week the Office for National Statistics released populaton projections for the next 25 years.

The UK population is projected to increase by 9.6 million over the next 25 years from an estimated 63.7 million in mid-2012 to 73.3 million in mid-2037.

Projected natural increase (more births than deaths) accounts for 57 per cent of the projected increase over the next 25 years.

ONS point out:

National population projections by age and sex are produced for the UK and its constituent countries every two years. The projections are based on the most recently available mid-year population estimates and a set of underlying demographic assumptions regarding future fertility, mortality and migration. They are not forecasts and do not attempt to predict the impact that future government policies, changing economic circumstances or other factors might have on demographic behaviour, for example, government policies on immigration or student fees.

Comment As ONS state the figures are not forecasts and are subject to change, they are not as it were set in stone. Nevertheless, the UK is set on an unsustainable population boom. Demand for resources such as water which is already under pressure in the south-east will increase; there will be extra requirements for energy, in a country where the balance between supply and demand is getting increasingly strained . Demand for housing space will also continue to rise.

Oddly enough in some quarters an increasing population is still regarded as something to celebrate, almost a virility symbol. In a world of finite resources and in an over-crowded island such beliefs are untenable.